


Lavender fields, Baratheon dreams

by lilaswaterfalls



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M, Gendrya - Freeform, also jon and gendry, also there will be fun things happening in the barn, loras and gendry are friends headcannon, more tags will be added, the Baratheons own a failing lavender farm, the pack survives, this is my cottagecore dream
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:15:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26240245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilaswaterfalls/pseuds/lilaswaterfalls
Summary: Gendry Baratheon finds himself the owner of a failing lavender farm, but with the help of his cousin Shireen, a family friend Davos, and his long-departed friend Arya, maybe this season will bring more than just sweet-smelling fields.
Relationships: Arya Stark/Gendry Waters
Comments: 25
Kudos: 60





	1. Spring Equinox

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hello, so this started out as a germ of an idea and right now I have about 5 parts that I'd like to do. Thank you for reading and please let me know your thoughts below. xx

Gendry loved the first day of spring, and his cousin Shireen was the second person who knew that. The first had left the country a long time ago, he hadn’t seen the girl who knew he loved spring since they were both kids. But that hardly mattered. He needed to get dressed for the day full of celebrations on the Baratheon farm today, not think about the girl with black hair.  
He usually tried to hide his excitement for the equinox, but his younger cousin always saw right through him. Shireen often caught him feeling the ground for warmth in the days before, she saw him checking the amount of time the sun spent in the sky, she saw him planting some seeds early in the greenhouse on the far side of their land. And when she questioned him about it, all he said was that he hated the cold, that if it were up to him, he’d live in a place where he’d never have to see snow. When she told him he could leave anytime he wanted, he told her that he couldn’t leave his family after he had been searching for it for so long. They never talked about it again, but they still celebrated together.  
The sun was barely peeking out of the sky when Gendry came downstairs to meet his cousin. The rest of the house was quiet, they weren’t expecting any visitors until the evening when the Baratheon house would come alive for its first celebration of the year.  
“You’re late.” Shireen said, handing him a cup of tea, her hair was in one long braid that went down her back and she wore a white dress.  
“Barely.” Gendry said taking a long sip and closing his eyes, he really wasn’t late, it was just Shireen who felt like spring could be rushed if they started their ceremony sooner. Gendry wished she were right, but every year, the Earth took its time waking up, not really paying attention to the two of them.  
“Well, come on then, we should get started.” She grabbed the cup he was holding, set it down and went to put on a red sweater over her dress, it was still cold, but as soon as Shireen dragged him outside and towards their glass greenhouse, he knew that winter was over. There was fog, and although some trees were still dormant, others had begun to sprout buds, pretty soon, the air would be fragrant and warm. Today, though, the air felt sleepy, only some green present.  
After some time, they came to the greenhouse, the air muggier and much warmer, but not as hot as it would get in a few months. There were some germinating herbs, especially lavender, one of Shireen’s favorites, that they’d plant in a few days. But they walked from through the rows of the plants to the empty pots they had painted the night before, there was already soil in them.  
Gendry had painted his grey, with a bull wrapped around it. Shireen had painted a boat on hers. They looked at each other and smiled, “I’ll get the candles, you put on the music.” He said, walking towards the cabinet with the pillar candles. Shireen put on the songs that reminded her of spring.  
They made their way to a table in the corner of the greenhouse, and Gendry took some seeds from his pocket. He handed two of them to Shireen but she refused. “You always plant cilantro, I’m trying lemon this year.”  
Gendry laughed. “If you think you’re going to be able to grow lemons this year, I think you may be a little too optimistic.”  
“That’s the whole point of this.” He rolled his eyes and they sat down. He placed a gold candle in the center of the table. Later that evening, the whole Baratheon clan would plant seeds for intentions, but the two of them had been doing these smaller ceremonies for the past five years. She was the first person of the family who made Gendry feel welcomed, and though the whole family loved him now as one of his own, he always liked spending time with Shireen, she was the only one who really knew about Gendry’s life before he had come to the Baratheon farm, an heir out of nowhere to the fortune and lands. Or…really…just the lands, his late father Robert had spent most of the Baratheon fortune, leaving Gendry, Shireen, and their advisor Davos to rebuild it.  
“What do you wish for?” He asked her.  
“If I told you, the surprise would be ruined, wouldn’t it?” She said, rubbing the seed in between her palms and placing it gently into the soil. He nodded and did the same, closing his eyes and making his wish. He wasn’t much for believing that it would come true, especially after he had spent all this time wishing for the same thing. For the same girl to come back, the girl who knew he loved spring, who had every reason to hate him after he left her alone. It was ridiculous. He knew that, but he wished he could explain how ridiculous he was, he wished to see her again, to hold her hand.  
He planted the seeds and sprayed them with rose water. Shireen had told him the rose water would help them grow faster. And once they were done, he grabbed his pot and placed it under the grow lights. If the plants grew, their wishes would come true, if not, he could always try again next spring. All of his previous seeds with that wish had died after a few weeks. Shireen’s always grew into full, healthy plants. Maybe he was just not cut out for this whole planting seeds thing. Shireen always told him that he needed to care for them for longer than just two weeks, he would change the subject. This year, he’d really try to keep his cilantro alive, maybe he’d even make something with his newly grown herb. This year he was going to try.  
“Even if it doesn’t work, this year we’re going to have busy growing season, I can feel it.” She said, placing her pot next to his under the light. “We may not be the icons of lavender just yet, but give us a few more seasons, we will be.” He smiled and they grabbed spray bottles. They began to spray the growing lavender that had been germinating since February.  
“I really hope you’re right.”  
“And, once it’s all planted, we’ll be able to get visitors to come too. We’ve got the plans Gendry, this year will be great. I know it.” They finished their round in silence, and before they left, he blew out the candle, he’d be back the next morning to light it again for a little while.  
“We should get back. Davos will be up, and we still have to finish cleaning out the barn.” He said, and the two of them walked back. Farm hands were making their way around the fields, looking for signs of growth.  
The sun was rising, the morning energizing, the fog had mostly cleared and the doors to the Baratheon mansion were open, receiving food for the evening’s celebration. Life was flowing through the house, the lights on, music playing, people coming in and out. Shireen went to the back house to feed the animals while Gendry walked back to the house to see if he could look over some of the financial plans he had made the night before.  
Davos was standing in at the entry way, a clipboard in his hand, he looked up to greet Gendry. “Good morning.” He said back to the old man. “Anything burning down?”  
“Not yet. But if you’ll excuse me, I think they brought too many tables, and you know how Shireen doesn’t like empty tables.” He rushed out of the house, before turning around, remembering something. “Oh,,you have a visitor. I don’t recognize her, but she said you knew her as a kid. She’s in the kitchen.”  
Davos left the house, and Gendry walked to the kitchen.  
He really couldn’t be it when he saw her, as if she heard his thoughts this morning and decided to appear to trick him. Her black hair was longer and she looked…good. She was holding the abandoned teacup he had left this morning, half full when she looked at him.  
“Arya.”


	2. Spring Equinox pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge THANK YOU for all of the kudos and comments. I've loved writing this story. Please let me know your thoughts. :)

She was back. Arya was back. After 7 years. They were just kids when she left for Bravos, and now she was here, sitting across him at the Baratheon table, talking to Shireen about how she met Gendry at their spring equinox celebration.

Her arrival felt distant now, especially after the chaotic afternoon that ensued.

They had just stared at each other in the kitchen, barely saying anything for about five minutes before Davos pulled him away from her, stating urgency.

“Get settled—we can catch up later.” Gendry told her, turning around, then stopping once more to face her, “You’re staying for tonight’s party right?”

She smiled, “Yes, I won’t leave.” He smiled back and turned back to Davos, who took him to the front porch. Overnight guests would be arriving soon, and of course the first ones to make it, before the house was fully presentable, were the Lannisters. The sun was in the sky, the day was warming, and yet Gendry felt a chill down his spine as he saw the Lioness arrive in golden car.

Cersei Lannister stepped out of it, glancing at the house, her children Tommen and Myrcella stood next to her. Their driver was unloading the bags and handing them to a servant.

Davos had made sure that they had the best rooms in the house.

“It’s nice to see you again Mrs. Lannister.” Gendry said, stepping towards her with an outstretched arm. She looked down at it, contemplating, then slowly shook his hand. She looked behind him towards the manor house once more.

“The place looks better than it did the last time I saw it.” She said, walking towards the door. Gendry followed behind her. She was right. When Gendry first came to the Baratheon house five years before, barely knowing anything about his family, most of it was covered in ivy, more stones were broken than not, and the landscape surrounding it had been overgrown after years of Robert Baratheon’s neglect.

“Yes, we’ve been making several renovations to—“

“I can see that our loan has helped you considerably.” She turned to him again, seeing how much he looked like her ex-husband. He was taller than Robert was, perhaps he was smarter, she didn’t know, she didn’t care.

“Which we are expecting to have paid back to you in full by the end of the season.”

“Good.” A servant walked past her with the remained of their bags. She looked out towards the fields, “I’d like to see the grounds, Robert always hoped to come back to this one day.” 

“Of course, I can give you a tour, if you’d like to settle in first.”

“Very well. Come children.” She entered the house, Tommen and Myrcella following, each of them giving Gendry a high-five as they went in. Davos and him shared a heavy look, they couldn’t fail this season. With their farm as collateral, the Baratheon needed to pay this debt before fall.

After his tense tour of the farm with Cersei, Gendry spent the rest of the day greeting guests from some of the most powerful families in Westeros, making sure the guests were comfortable in their rooms, and attending to any issues that came up.

He almost forgot that Arya was there, until the afternoon, when he saw her studying him from the rose garden.

—

The evening of celebrations had begun with Gendry giving all of the families a welcome speech. Davos helped him craft it, considering the fact that Gendry barely knew any of them. The few he had met were only interested in meeting him because he was the Baratheon heir to the 200 acres of land after the accident that killed his father and two uncles. Most of them were leaving in the morning, he just needed to get through the night.

The music played and the dinner was served after his speech, the air seemed joyful, and he hoped that he was doing his part right. The barn was decorated with candles and twinkle lights, there were some early flowers decorating the tables. On one end of the hall, the musicians played tunes to fill the silence, and on the other end sat Gendry with what remained of his family. The rest of the tables were organized by house, Shireen had made sure to place families that liked each other next to the other. 

His cousin was sitting next to Arya, who had sat with them thanks to Gendry’s insistence. She was asking her about Gendry when he was young, about their time together as kids. Shireen wore a silver dress and a flower crown, as the hostess of the evening she had allowed herself to shine this evening. Arya though, stuck to a shapeless black frock, her hair pulled neatly away from her face. Yet Gendry kept on stealing glances her way in between bites of his food.

The entire meal, he tried to figure out something to say to her, but everything he could come up with felt too intimate. He didn’t want to talk to Arya over a large table at a party, he wanted to talk to her like they used to: out in a field, alone, on the run from people who wanted them to grow up.

“For your first time hosting this, you’re doing a great job lad.” Davos said to him, looking around the room. Gendry followed suit and allowed himself to feel proud for a moment. The success really came from him and Davos and Shireen, but seeing all of the great families of Westeros joined together, he felt for the first time, that he was capable of leading his family back to success. Then his eyes met Cersei Lannister’s, who gave him a small nod, reminding him that without her, he wouldn’t have had the money to put on this party.

Once dinner had ended, the music played and the wine flowed. Arya, like most of the party, had stood up and began to socialize, heading to the Stark table. He recognized Sansa Stark and their half-brother Jon, who had both visited the Baratheon farm when he first took it over. He didn’t really know the rest of them, but before he could head over to their table, Loras Tyrell greeted him with a hug. 

“My friend. This is one of the most wonderful celebrations I’ve seen in this place, and I’ve been to a lot of them.” He smiled at Gendry, his curly brown hair falling over his forehead. Loras had been Gendry’s closest friend since meeting the Baratheon’s. He visited Gendry the most since he had taken up residence at the farm, and he’d provided the most help in getting the farm back into working condition. Before the accident, Loras and Renly Baratheon were meant to be the original caretakers of the farm and aftereverything happened, Loras couldn’t really bring himself to work on it again.

A pretty girl stood next to him, “Gen, this is my sister Margaery, Marge, this is Gendry Baratheon. He’s in charge of the farm now.” She wore a blue dress that matched her eyes, smiling sweetly.

“It’s nice to meet you.” He said.

“You have a lovely home, thank you for welcoming us, Loras has told me so much about you.” She said, taking his hand, “I am so sorry for your loss. When we heard about it, we couldn’t really believe it.”

“Thank you, your brother has been invaluable help to me. You’re welcome to come visit here anytime.”

“Now that you mention it, do you have any wholesalers? We are looking for a new supplier for our product line, right Loras?” She said looking to her brother, who could tell Gendry didn’t want to talk about the price of lavender this year.

“We’ll have time for that later.” Loras said, smiling at her.

“Of course, let’s talk about it tomorrow before you leave.” Gendry said, making his excuse to go towards the Stark table. Arya was talking to Jon, who saw Gendry approaching them.

“Gendry, it’s good to see you.” He said, making Arya and the rest of her family face him. They hugged. “You know my sisters Sansa and Arya, these are my brothers: Robb and Bran, Rickon is somewhere around here playing.”

He shook Robb and Bran’s hands, “Arya has told me so much about you, and my father too.” Arya’s shoulder was touching Gendry’s arm, the Starks all seemed to look down, Robb stepped forward to put his arm around Gendry, separating him from Arya who at that point was smiling at the two of them.

“I didn’t know Robert well, but I do know he’d be proud of you. And if there’s anything you need from me or my family, you let me know. You’ve been a true friend to Arya for so long, I’m happy to finally meet you.”

“Thanks Robb.” They smiled at each other, before Robb turned to talk to the Tyrell siblings. He looked around for Arya, but she was gone.

“She went outside.” Sansa said, sitting back down, smirking. He nodded and left the barn. The party would be fine without him for a few minutes.

As soon as Gendry was outside, he wrapped his arms around his frame to get some warmth. Arya sat on a concrete bench, the moon was waxing above and there were stars glittering the sky. He could hear the music playing at a distance, the party still raging inside. A gust of wind flew through her hair, but she didn’t look cold, she was from the North.

“You did well tonight.” She said, still facing away from him. The gravel must have given him away, but he still approached her and sat next to her, their shoulders touching once more.

“What?”

“Being with people. The last time I saw you, you barely spoke to anyone expect me and Hot Pie.”

“I remember.” He looked down at the hands in his lap, not ready to look at her for fear of losing his words again. “A lot’s changed since we were together.”

“Don’t I know it.” She stood up and faced him, a glint of mischief and jokes in her eyes, “How exactly did you inherit all of this? All I’ve heard are nasty rumors that can’t be true.”

HE clenched his jaw. “They’re not. After you left Westeros, I found my dad. And he took me in, let me be part of the family. And for four years it was great. I meant it wasn’t perfect, but it was something like home. Can’t say I really thought this farm was going places then, but Renly always saw this place as something better that it was. Then the accident happened, and I got this farm, and all of the debt with it.”

She was quiet for a second, “I’m sorry.” He didn’t know what she was sorry for: leaving, losing his family, getting a shitty farm, all of it? Instead, he stood and began to walk with her.

“Why are you here?” He asked.

“I haven’t seen you in a while. And I’m staying in Westeros for good. My time away is done.”

“What happened over there?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m here now.”

“Thinking of going back to Winterfell?”

“Perhaps.”

“You know, you could stay here. I was thinking about hiring help for the season, I can’t pay much, but I can give you a place to live and food. And of course, the invaluable gift of my time.” She smiled a beautiful smile that reached all the way to her eyes and made Gendry’s stomach do a weird flip. “Just for the season, then. You can go towards your next adventure.”

“Okay.” He smiled back at her and nodded his head back towards the barn. She grabbed his hand and led him to the party. 

She was staying for the season, he hoped that would be enough.


	3. As the days grow longer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!!! I know it's been a while since I've updated. A lot has been going on with me, and frankly, I hadn't had inspiration to write. But this fic kind of always lived in the back of my mind so I'm happy to say here is the next chapter!! Hopefully it won't take me as long between this and the next one, but thank you so much for your lovely comments. And thank you thank you thank you for reading!! Enjoy! <3

Arya was always there now.

For the past five years, she had been gone, and he hadn’t heard anything from her. Not from Jon or Sansa. The only things he had seen from her were photos of the scenery surrounding her posted to Instagram every few months. But even then, they were faceless, caption-less, almost as cryptic as the girl who had posted them.

Now, though, she was everywhere. Gendry would come down in the mornings and she’d be making coffee for the two of them. If he needed help carrying fertilizer, she was there to lend him a hand, if he needed someone to water the plants in the greenhouse, she held the watering can. And where Arya was, her dog Nymeria followed closely, sometimes with a tool in her mouth that she’d hand to her owner.

It was easy for them to fall into a routine. After the equinox, Arya stayed with Gendry. She stayed as Margaery and Loras Tyrell agreed to purchase half of his lavender stock for their company, she stayed as Cersei Lannister reminded Gendry about his outstanding debt to the Lannisters, she stayed as the days became longer and warmer. Sometimes, if he’d wake up before dawn, he’d look out of his window and see her outside. She’d exercise or she’d read or she’d just sit and stare at seemingly nothing.

When they were children, she was always the last to wake up. Now, even as he regularly woke before dawn, she was always waiting for him to catch up to her.

He decided to ask her about the change one morning about a month after she had come.

He had just woken up and turned on the lamp at his bedside. It was Sunday and he still couldn’t sleep in. He looked at the clock: 4:30am. After trying to close his eyes and fall asleep once more, he stood up and looked outside of his window. She wasn’t there. And it was quiet. No insects buzzing, no birds chirping, the animals still asleep, and the occupants in the house as well…or so it seemed.

He turned to look at his bedroom and he thought is was simple enough. The dark wooden furniture predated his grandfather. There was a crack in the wall behind his bed that he had been meaning to fix for ages now, and in the winter his room was colder than any of the other ones in the house, but the space felt lived in. These walls had housed his father and grandfather and further along the Baratheon line. And what kept him up most nights was the thought that it could be him who lost it all.

He closed his eyes and tried to breathe more deeply, clear out the negative, the things he couldn’t control. But in that clarity, he heard creaking floorboards right outside of his room. He opened the door quietly, until he saw Arya pacing away from him, then suddenly she turned towards him.

Her eyes were puffy and her nose red. “What’s wrong?” He asked her, opening the door fully and motioning her inside. He shut the door behind her as she stood in front of his bed.

“I couldn’t sleep.” He walked towards her, grabbed her hand, and they sat down on the edge of it. “Bad dream.” She continued, looking down at their hands.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, I—I don’t even know why I came here. I just couldn’t sleep. I’m sorry if I woke you.” He cupped her face, forcing her to stop and look at him, grey eyes looking at blue ones.

“You didn’t.” She curled her mouth into a soft smile, but it fell quickly. He let go of her face, grabbed her hands once more, but she wouldn’t look at him.

“Can I stay here?” She said, so softly she almost mouthed it. Birds were beginning to chirp outside even though it was still pitch-black. He nodded and let go of her hands, she laid down on the bed next to him and he pulled the covers over them. He didn’t know if he could touch her, not at first, not with tears still falling on her face. Maybe she just needed someone to be there with her.

It wasn’t until she turned to face him and began to run her hand along his forearm that he thought he’d be able to hold her eventually. For now, though, he just let her stay there. And he stared at the ceiling, silence between them, except for the occasional chirping. If they stayed this quiet for any longer, they’d be able to hear Davos getting up.

“You always wake up before me now.” He said. “Used to be I had to practically drag you out of bed.”

“Spend a year training in Braavos and you’ll kick the habit.” She said with a breathy laugh, whispering in case the rest of the household could hear her.

“Training?”

“—yes.” He waited a moment before he said anything else. Maybe she’d elaborate, but she kept of tracing circles on his forearm. And he didn’t really know what else to say to her.

“Do you like it?”

“Waking up early?”

“Yeah.”

“I guess I could ask the same of you.” He turned his head to look at her, “I do. But sometimes I wish I could enjoy sleeping again. Sometimes it just feels like I won’t wake up.”

“Why would you think that?”

She stared at him for a moment, then she let go of his forearm, a tear fell down her face and she repeated, “Spend a year training in Braavos.”

He looked up again at the ceiling, the sun would peak through eventually. But now, it was only darkness. He found her hand and held it. And they stayed that way for a while. Gendry must have fallen asleep again because when he opened his eyes again, the sun was shining through and Arya was shutting his door on her way out.

—————————————————

They didn’t talk about that morning. The work continued as the days got longer and the plants started growing. Shireen had begun hosting evens in the barn that brought in extra revenue and Davos gave tours to daily visitors when he wasn’t keeping track of the books. Most of the time, Gendry could be left to caring for the lavender and the bees on the far edge of the farm.

Arya made herself available wherever she was needed. If Shireen needed an assistant yoga teacher, then she’d do that, if Davos needed help driving a golf cart around the property, she’d grab the key. Mostly, and Arya’s favorite task, was helping Gendry prepare for the lavender harvest. Whether they were cleaning the distillator that would make the essential oils for the year or preparing the barn that would hold all of the dried lavender, the two worked seamlessly together.

During the day, they’d all play music and greet visitors who had never been welcomed onto the farm before. Gendry and Shireen never understood why Robert Baratheon never wanted to open the farm to visitors. They found a new area of revenue that would bolster their earnings once the season ended. And when Arya suggested the barn be fully repaired to host weddings and gatherings, Davos said they’d have a chance of making some revenue off the land.

But when night came, silence settled in. Gendry and Davos would crunch numbers and though they were busier than they had been for the past five years and they had the deal with the Tyrells, they’d need to get seriously lucky if they were going to be able to pay all of Cersei Lannister’s debt with interest.

After everyone would retire to their rooms, Gendry would lie awake in bed, staring at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to overcome him. But one night, Arya opened his door and climbed into his bed. He almost thought he was hallucinating until she found his forearm and began to play with the hairs on it.

He didn’t dare speak and she didn’t talk either, but both of them would fall asleep and in the morning she’d be gone. She started doing this more nights than not, and somehow, he started wrapping his arms around her. Some nights, he’d run his hand through her hair. Most of the time though, they laid there in silence, so that they didn’t have to fall asleep alone.

———————————————————————

Arya brought his dinner to the greenhouse. The seeds that Gendry and Shireen had planted at the beginning of the season were already past their sprouting stage. And the room felt steamier than before.

Gendry shirtless and sweating was working on propagating some of the house plants that had been growing in the greenhouse since early February. He worked carefully, methodically cutting stems with nodes on them, focused so much his work that he didn’t notice Arya was there until she set his dinner beside the bed that he was working on. Jazz was playing in the background.

He almost jumped when she set the tray down. “One of these days you’re going to make me scream if you keep sneaking up on me like that.” He said, going back into a large plant that he was working on trimming down.

“You weren’t at dinner, so I thought I’d bring you some food.” She said, effectively ignoring his comment. He looked over at the tray: a sandwich and a salad with watercress that Shireen had most likely grown in the Baratheon vegetable garden.

“Thank you, just leave it there I’ll get to it eventually.” He said, looking back to the pile of cuttings that he had collected.

“Do you need help?” She asked, leaning closely over his shoulder.

“Yeah, you can grab some nursery pots and soil, if you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty.” She smirked and went into work, placing a few cuttings in each plastic pot then covering them in soil and misting with water.

Eventually, he finished pruning and began to sweep the greenhouse floor. He knew long ago that it’d never be perfectly clean in there, but the less plant debris there was on the floor, the less bugs he had to deal with. She worked quickly, filling twenty pots and watering them while he cleaned up after her. The jazz played, he hummed along.

“You sound good.” She said.

“You can’t tell if I sound good from humming.” He said, she lifted her eyes to meet his, a glint of mischief in hers.

“No, but I remember that one night when you drunkenly sang that war song.” He winced at the memory when they were both kids. He was seventeen, she was a just three years younger, and yet so much more responsible than him. One night, he had found his way to his mother’s liquor cabinet and while he had offered to share, she watched him drink his fill. He drank until he couldn’t feel much, could only really see her smile. It hadn’t changed after all this time, though the circumstances certainly had.

“And if I remember correctly, you never let me sneak my mom’s tequila again.” They both began to laugh at the ridiculousness. That was the last fun night he could remember between the two of them. A few weeks after that, he was accepted to go to school and Arya moved to a different country, seemingly of her on volition, life pulling them apart. Silence fell between them again, and the music had stopped playing.

“When I left, what did you do?” She asked him. He turned away from her and began to talk.

“Lots of things, I guess. After mum’s accident, she never really recovered, only got worse. So bad that she had to close up the café. So, I took care of her. Worked odd jobs through school and I graduated uni. Met my dad after mum told me about him. She died a few months after that, and since then I’ve been with the Baratheon’s. Not too boring, but not the most interesting story between the two of us.”

“And you didn’t fall in love?”

He turned to face her once more, contemplating whether or not he should tell her the truth. Would she find him pathetic? Would she believe him? Eventually, he straightened his back and confessed, “No.”

“Why not? You’re young, handsome, and very recently rich, Lord Baratheon.”

“I’m not rich yet, in fact you could say this new last name really just screwed up my credit.”

“Don’t change the subject.” Even when they were younger, he could never get away with changing the subject around her.

He spoke, “There were a few girls, some fun nights—

She stood up and walked closer to him, “Tell me about her.”

“She—she wasn’t important. Her name was Lila. We just went on a few dates, and eventually it just fizzled out.” He said.

“Were you with her?” She asked.

“What?” He said.

“Were you _with_ her?” She asked again.

She was closer to him, so close that he could reach out and touch her if he wanted. “Yes, I was.”

“Were you with other girls? After? Or before?” She got even closer, breaking his bubble.

She looked at his lips, he looked at hers, and almost in a whisper he said, “Yes.” And he leaned in, closing the distance between their mouths and kissing her for the first time. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his around her waist, pulling her against his body fully.

He opened his mouth, she opened hers, and it was a dance of tongues and lips and that wonderful warm feeling that evaded Gendry for the longest time.

And almost as suddenly as it began, she was pulling away. Their foreheads touched for what seemed like hours, until she let go of his neck and ran her hands past his shoulders and onto his broad chest. She put some space between the two of them.

“Enjoy your dinner.” She turned away and left the him alone in the greenhouse, breath heavy and a little in disbelief. He walked to the stereo and played music, sitting down to eat, because that was the only thing that felt normal. Arya and him had kissed. And Gendry didn’t think life would be really the same after that.

He wondered if she’d stay in his bed that night.

—————————————————————————————

She didn’t.


	4. Summer's peaking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Here's a new chapter! Enjoy! :)

The morning after their kiss in the greenhouse, Gendry needed to take a train to King’s Landing. Shireen and Davos both needed items for their jobs and he was going to meet Loras and Margaery to finalize the details of their partnership.

He awoke at dawn, like normal, he brushed his teeth like normal, he got dressed like normal. What wasn’t normal, was the lingering sensation of Arya’s lips on his. He didn’t see her when he got back to the house, but then again, he waited until well after all the lights in the house were turned off.

Davos was in the kitchen drinking coffee and reading a book. “Good morning.” Gendry said, grabbing a cup for him and sitting at the table across from him.

“Morning!” Davos said, his optimism radiating from the cup in his hand, “Are you headed to London today?”

“Yeah. Did you take a look at the contract the Tyrells sent us?”

“I did. It looked good to me. 5 years of our lavender supply for their cosmetics and we get paid for it. Seems simple enough to me.”

Gendry laughed into his coffee and said, “This will be good for us. Besides, they can brand it as Westerosi grown, and thanks to Shireen, it’s organic and sustainable.”

“Aye. I think that she’s been a great asset to this farm. And so have you. I have to say, in the past year you’ve really transformed this place. Shireen’s ideas would never have been incorporated before, and now look, we’ve got multiple streams of revenue, and we’re going to get that Lannister debt paid off by the end of the season. I know your father would be proud.”

“The season’s not over yet, and this deal could fall through.”

“Nonsense! The Tyrells love you. You just need to have confidence Gendry. If your dad had the confidence to spend this farm to the dirt, you can make it rise from the ashes again. You’ve been working hard, now we just wait for the lavender to grow.”

“And in the meantime we make business deals.”

“In the meantime we make business deals.” They clinked their coffee cups and smiled at each other. Gendry seriously didn’t know what he’d do if Davos wasn’t there helping them.

The kitchen door opened and Arya came in, “Good morning.” The two men said to her, she smiled and nodded back. Gendry was almost completely sure that Davos didn’t know that the two had kissed in the greenhouse last night, but seeing Arya brought the memory fresh to his mind.

Her hair was out of its half bun and and she wore a simple white t-shirt and denim trousers, but he couldn’t help but think how beautiful she looked in the morning.

“What are you up to today Miss Stark?” Davos asked her, turning his eyes to her as she put a piece of bread in a toaster and got some butter out of the fridge.

“I was actually going to come to Mr. Waters—I mean Baratheon, about that. Shireen doesn’t need my help and from what I can tell, the farm is closed to visitors today.” She looked directly at Gendry, and it might’ve been the coffee but he felt his hear beginning to race and his palms felt sweaty.

“Actually he’s going to King’s Landing today. He has a meeting with the Tyrells.” Davos said, oblivious to the two of them.

And Gendry didn’t really know why he said it, but he quickly cut in after Davos finished, “Do you want to come?”

Arya contemplated it for a second, looking between the two men and then said, “Sure. Jon’s there right now, and I’d love to see him.”

“Great, I haven’t seen Jon since the party either. I’m leaving for the station in twenty minutes.”

“Cool.” She replied, cool as ever, steely eyes revealing nothing more than she had already said. He nodded to both of them.

“Okay, I’ll wait for you in the car.” He said, standing up and walking out of the kitchen to grab his work bag and keys.

* * *

Half an hour into their three hour train ride, they sat across from each other on the train, Arya was reading, and she hadn’t mentioned the night before. But now felt like a good time to talk, “Listen Arya, about last night—“

“When was the last time you went into town?” Her book was down and she was looking out the window. He decided not to press the issue and answered her question.

“Almost six months. To see Jon actually.”

“How did you two meet, anyways? When I left I was the only Stark you knew and now it seems like you’re friends with my entire family.”

“I knew your family. I didn’t hang out with them but I knew them,” He said, looking down. The Starks were the most important family in the north. Always had been, and probably always would be. And Gendry never really understood why Arya always visited his mum’s coffee shop when there were a lot better ones just outside the gates of Winterfell, but the youngest Stark girl was often in the habit of doing as she pleased.

The first time she came into the shop, she was with her father, lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North. He was welcoming Gendry’s mother to town and wished her the best of luck. Arya spotted Gendry cleaning tables in the back of the shop and immediately went over to talk to him while Lord Stark still spoke with his mother.

She was a little girl then, no inhibitions. And at first, when she’d come over, she’d sit there and talk his ear off for hours about her brother Jon and how much she hated Sansa and how she wanted to go to a special school in Braavos but that the Lady of Winterfell wouldn’t let her. After a month of it, Gendry almost told his mom to let him stay home so he’d get a break from her, but one day, after Gendry had had a rough day at school, Arya sat there and listened to him. And she helped with the cleaning.

She came in most weekends, and when Gendry asked where her parents thought she was, she’d always say, “Finishing school.” And they’d laugh, because learning good manners was the last thing they did together.

Even as they got older, she kept on coming. And for a moment back then, he thought things would always be like that between them: him behind the counter working the shop and her keeping him company. Maybe one day she’d work beside him. But things changed, they always did. She left Winterfell to Braavos, and so did he, and he never figured out why they let her go finally.

“You didn’t answer my question. About Jon.” She pressed, the sun was in the sky, a beautiful morning.

“Surely Jon told you.” She looked out the window, and he continued, “We met at uni in a class together that I’m pretty sure we were both close to failing. Somehow we kept on bumping into each other at campus and we became mates pretty soon after that.”

“And what would you two talk about?”

“You.” There was a pause between them, and then a laugh, “But seriously? Most of the time we talked about our dads. You and Jon are from a great house, and he taught me a lot about protocol and what to do, what not to do. Especially because at the time I didn’t know that I was going to be inheriting the Baratheon lands and titles.”

The pair talked all the train ride about Gendry’s uni days, and his early time with the Baratheons. Gendry kept Arya laughing and he thought that maybe, if he could keep her laughing like that, she’d stay past the season with him.

But was this strange?

She was supposed to be the annoying little girl who came into his mum’s shop once a week.

But she wasn’t. And he certainly wasn’t the boy who cleaned the tables.

She was Arya Stark, he was Gendry Baratheon.

And they were grown now.

Adults.

Able to make their own choices.

Able to kiss each other in a greenhouse and share a bed more than once.

* * *

They arrived in London to the Tyrell driver holding a sign for them, picking them up and taking them to the restaurant a Tyrell relation owned. It was intimate, covered in greenery, and even though it was midday, it was dark, lit only with candles and dim overhead lights.

Margaery and Loras greeted them in a private room that was filled with paintings of old Tyrell ladies, some of them looked exactly like Margaery. The siblings greeted them both with a hug and smile, inviting them to sit. And for the most part, Margaery and Gendry did the talking, with the occasional chime in from Arya and Loras.

They all had lunch and before he knew it, the meal was over and the papers were signed. Officially, Gendry would have 90% of his debt to Cersei paid off at the end of the season. All Arya and Gendry needed to do was make sure they supplied the lavender. As soon as they stood, Margaery pulled him aside and looped her arm around his, “Gendry, I’m so glad our families are able to be in business again. And if you need anything else from us, please come to me. I’m sure we can help you in anything else that you need.”

“Thank you Marge, I’m excited to be working with you. You’re always welcome on our farm.” She smiled a lovely smile at him, her blue eyes cheerful and witty, her long brown hair pulled out of her face. They walked towards the front of the restaurant and said their goodbyes to each other, Loras and Arya followed closely behind.

“Enjoy the city!” Loras said to them as they walked to the city center. Gendry had a big smile in his face and knew exactly where he wanted to take Arya. It was early, maybe 5, and he wasn’t hungry, but he only needed to figure out how to pay back 10% of the debt now, and if that wasn’t worth celebrating, then he didn’t know what would be.

He grabbed Arya’s hand and pulled her into a small tavern close to the University. Jon and his girlfriend Daenerys would meet them there soon, but not he had Arya all to himself. So, he looked at her excitedly and spun her around in his arms before they ordered beers for themselves and sat in a both in the back corner of the place.

“Thank you for coming with me.” He said cheerfully to her, taking a sip of his beer.

“Davos said it himself, this was only a formality. You did the heavy lifting.”

“I know, but me against two Tyrells? They would’ve eaten me alive.” They both laughed.

“They are sharkish.” She replied with a laugh, nearly half of her beer was finished.

“Who is?” Jon said, walking up to their both, and Gendry couldn’t tell who was happier to see whom. Arya to Jon? Jon to Arya? Gendry to Jon? They all hugged and Jon introduced them to Dany, who had just moved to King’s Landing.

The conversation was jovial and celebratory, and the more they drank, the louder they spoke. Gendry told them about the night that Jon ran through campus butt-naked on a dare, and Arya avenged her brother by telling the table about the time that Gendry had accidentally thrown up in an antique Winterfell vase.

The music at the bar played and the conversation was great and the only worry that Gendry had at that moment was be ing able to hold his drink better than Jon.

* * *

They still felt the alcohol when they left the tavern to get on their train ride.

They still felt the alcohol when they laughed a little too loudly in their seats, giddy with the energy of the day.

They still felt the alcohol when they got back to the house and sang “Jenny of Oldstones” loudly and poorly.

But when they were outside of Gendry’s room, they both seemed to sober up, silence filling the space between them. She was here, with him, and they had just kissed the night before, and he really wanted to do it again. But maybe that wasn’t what she wanted, maybe—

She kissed him.

And the force of her lips against his had him against his door, pulling her as close as he possibly could. Her hands were in his hair again, just like last night, except unlike last night, Gendry found himself able to move his hands from her upper back all the way down to her bum. He felt her, soft in his hands and moved his hands further down to her thighs, lifting her up so her legs wrapped around his waist.

He wasted no time spinning them around, opening his door and bringing her through. Her lips traveled down to his neck, tongue caressing his earlobe, grinding her hips against his, and he groaned. Immediately, he closed the door and pressed her against it, hungry to feel more. And he kissed her lips, kissed her neck, kissed her clavicle. All the while running his hands along the underside of her thighs.

“Take it off, Gendry.” She said, and he was too wrapped up in exploring her skin to know exactly what she was talking about, until she started working on the buttons of her shirt and he let her feet fall down to the floor so that he could tug her to his bed and finish undressing her himself.

As they both stripped of their clothes, their eyes met, loud breaths filling the room. “Are you sure?” He asked, and she nodded, running her leg against his.

And as he made love to her, he felt something come back to him that he thought he’d lost a long time ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ope. thoughts??


End file.
